Gas-producer.



E. A. W. JEFFERHZS.

6A5 PRODUCER.

wwcmw HLED 1AM.23,19\5.

Patented Nov. 12, 1918.

Ihvenfov consumption of fuel by the producer.

EBENEZER A. W, JEFFERIES, 0F WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0 MORGAN CONSTRUCTION COMPANY, OF CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, A

GAS-PB ODUCER.

Application filed January 23, 1915.

To (Ill whom it may con crn:

Be it known that I, EunNnziu: A. \Y. JEF- rnmns, a citizen of the United Slates, residin; at. \Vorcester, in the county of Worcester and (onnnonwcalth of Massachusetts. have invented a new and useful Improvement in Gas-Producers. of which the following, to- {lcther with the accompau vin; drawings, is a specification.

The present invention relates to flow pro vlucers. and has particular reference to the provision of means for automatically controllingand regulating the supply of fuel to the c mb .slion chamber of a device of this class.

(ias producer practice has evolved the nleclu nical feeding: of fuel to the producer dia mber. and various mechanisms have been devised to supply such fuel c ntinuously at a rate in accordance with the normal rate of In order to correct the ttuidcncy of the fuel thus supplied to pile up at certain portions of the surface of the fuel bed, it has been proposed to locate the feeding device eccentricaii. ail. respect to the fuel bed. and to cause relalivr bodily rotation between said bed and said device. thereby effecting a more or less equal distribution of the incoming fuel upon the urface of said bed.

Difficulties. however, have been mademanifest in the operation of such mechanical feeding devices for continuously supplying; fu l in predetermim-d quantities to the fire, by reason of variable conditions imposing. themselves upon the operation of the producer, whereby the rates of fuel consumption or ash discharge. or both, are, to a considerabl degree, variable; as a result, the neair level of the fuel bed. is not maintained constant, or even substantially so, as said fuel is automatically fed thereto. Instead, the level rises, oftentin'ies beyond the limit defining a thickness of fuel bed most favorable to the eflicient operation of the producer, and under these conditions, it will be seen that the continued constant mechanical fe ding of fuel will cause the producer to choke up and be operative only at .a serious loss in The present invention is concerned with a means for interrupting or discontinuing the action of the mechanical feeding device when the conditions above described prevail, and

Specification 1 Letters Patent,

atented Nov. 12, 1918.

Serial Nov 4.050.

in its essence it consists in providing an agency at all times directly responsive to changes in the level of the fuel bed, for rendering the feeding device inoperative upon the attainment of a predetermined thiclmcss of fuel bed in the combustion chamber of llie producer.

The mechanism hv which the above and other results are secured is fully'set forth n 1* following description and illustrated a ll zu'conipanying ('lItlWlllQS, in whieh' escape of gases from the combustion chain-- her 4- inclosed thereby. The section 2, may be rotatably supported in any suitable man- 1111, to re eive rotation from the worm 5 which meshes with an annular rack 6 encirclin, said section.

The stationary cover section 1 is utilized, as in ordinary practice, for the introduction of fuel to the producer. being provided with an openin t, not shown, through which the fuel enters. In the present instance I have shown a form of mechanical feeding device, designated as a whole by the numeral 7, carried by the section 1 tion to such opening; said device maypartake of the features of any known device of this class, an example of which is found in the mechanism fully set forth and described ,in the Letters Patent No. 1,221,055, i$ued to George H. Isley, April 3, 1917. For the purposes of the present invention it is suflieient to state that such feeding device 7 is v operable by the rotation of a shaft 8, which drives the interior mechanism adapted to feed fuel at a predetermined rate, to the chamber 4. Said shaft is driven by a ratchet wheel 9, and a pawl or pawls 10, the ratchet wheel being secured to the shaft, and the pawls being pivoted upon an arm or lever 11 arranged to swing upon said shaft. The 0pposite end of said lever 11 base horizontal and in operative relaprojection or pin 12, received within a substantially semicircular notch or recess 13 in the under side of a link 14, and thereby providing a detachable pivotal connection between said link and said lever. The other end of said link is pivotally connected to one arm 15 of a bell crank lever,

pivoted at 16, the other arm 17 of said bell crank being connected to a constantly reciprocating rod or member 18, having a connection with a suitable source of power, not shown.

My invention, as previously stated, contemplates the provision of an agency to which is communicated the variationsin the height of the fuel bed during the continuous operation of the producer and, in the present instance, l-have shown such agency in the form of. a fuel leveling device of the character set forth and described in the Lettel s Patent issued to Charles W. Lummis and George H. lsley, Decen'iber 25, 1917, No. 1,251,061. A member 19, carried upon a shaft 20 journaled for swinging movement in bearings 21 supported by the stationary section 1, extends in an oblique position through a large opening in said section 1, with its free end bent at r ght angles and resting by gravity upon the surface of the fuel in the section 2, as shown in the drawings, preferably in substantially radial disposition thereon.

upwardly extending arm 22'hav1ng an adjustable weight 23 thereonserving to vary the pressure of the fuel leveling member 19 upon the surface of the fuel bed, as the lat ter is continuously rotated beneath said member. A link 24 pivotally connected to the arm 22 has an. elongated slot 25 near its other end. which receives a pin 26 carried by an arm .57 projecting upwardly from a shaft 3.8 journaled in bearings 29 carried by the section 1. The arm 27 carries a weight 30: said arm also has an offset substantiallyrighbangled extensio 31, disposed beneath the link 14 of the me hanically operated fuel feeding device previously described.

In the normal operation of the producer, with tl e parts in the positions shown in Fig. 1. the constant reciprocation of the member 18'is transmitted to rotate the shaft 8 intersecurm a mittently by the inter osed mechanism, thus mechanical feeding of fuel by the device When such operation takes Place under conditions which maintain the level of thefucl bed at'substantially the proper height for the most efficient performance of the producer, the arm 22-, by reason of the position assumed by the member 19, supports the arm 27, through the connecting link 24., in a. position closely approaching the vei tical, as shown in Fig. 1. Coincident with a rise in the mean level of the fuel bed, the arm swings to the left, by reason of the angular movement of the member 19 in re- The shaft 20 carries an.

ing rocking movement to the .arm 27 and shaft 28; and as soon as said arm 27 is thus carried past the plane of its vertical position by an increase in the thickness of the fuel" bed beyond a predetermined limit, gravity will effect the falling of said arm 27 into the position shown in Fig. '2, such movement being permitted by reason of the lost motion pin and slot connection between said arm and the link 24. The above described gravitational movement of the arm 27 carrice the sl'iortright-angled offset extension 31 thereof into engagement with the link 14, lifting said link into the position shown in Fig. 2, with the slot 13 free of the pin 12, so that the reciprocation of said link 14 proceeds with iio effect upon the shaft 8 of the mechanical feeding device. As a result, the introduction of fresh fuel to the producer is interrupted, thus preventing the. possibility of an excessive height of fuel in the chamber 4.' This interruption continues until the operator restores the arm 27 to its normal position; it will be clear that any attempt to restore such arm to normal position, as shown ,in F ig. 1, before normal working conditions of fuel level are resumed within the roducer will fail, by reason of the impossibility of rocking-said arm to the right. past the plane of,,its vertical position.

The fuel feeding mechanism 7 is placed eccentrically to the gas producing chamber hand as the fuel bed is rotated by the action of the worm 5 and annular rack 6, the fuel falling by gravity into the chamber 4 will be brought beneath the radially disposed end of the-member 19 and leveled to produce a uniform surface. If the fuel accumulates beyond its desired limit, it will swing the member 19 on its axis 20 until the arm 27 is swung to the left of a vertical plane passing through the aXiS of the shaft 28, allowing the arm 27 to swing by gravity into the position shown in Fig.2, thereby permanently disconnecting the fuel feeding mechanism from its operating power until the arm 27 has been restored by the attendant to its normal positiomas shown in Fig. 1.

The feeding mechanism, therefore, becomes controlled by the height of the leveled surface of the fuel in the gas producing chamber, thereby preventing an excessive thickness of the fuel bed which is kept uniform by the leveling action of the member 19 and the rotation of the fuel beneath it.

I claim:

1. In a, gas producer, a rotatin gas producin chamber, means for supp ying. fuel to said chamber by gravity, eccentrically to its axis of rotation, means for leveling the nnino zu 'ii ili Ml Pliiil f m iii l: t! T iwalu'iug t'lltillillli. a winging: im-r! ii'mi' iiiui'alii'rl i' Malina-lull with by thv lu-iglu of fuel in the gas producing i'hamhvr for swinging said \n-ightml level from ils normal position into a position to iltl h ;jl'aviiy to ililt'lllilit tho :u-tion of the iuvl fouling (IL'Yit't.

1-. In a ga n'oihu-el. a gas producing iilzIHilW". nu'zma for .iI-miing fuel into the top of :Hiti vhainlmx a shaft journahal outside of said ('hamla-i', an arm arried by Said -haft. with its free end resting on the fuel in will vhamhor. an arm (:HI'illl by said shaft iiilih'ilil ()I' said Cll:UlIl)["1'. means for ()lltl'ilting tin flu'i feuding lliH'llZUliSHl. a \vvighted inn-[1a slotted link connecting said \vvightcd ham and saitl outside arm. and an offset arm on said weightml lPYll' for llisvonnocting ihv operating Hiti'liililifilli from tin fuel feeding devil-o whvn hilitl \vvightml level is swung lay gravity.

ii. In a gas prmhu'ol'. a fuel feeding device, constantly opv 'ating' XINHIW for avtuating Silill flu-(ling (lOVit't. gravity :u'tuatml means for aloha-hing saitl operating means from the vi-cling tlevic'o, aml means i-onti'ollutl hy the rim in the {WI low] in tho ])l'll(lll('6l' for put ting tin gravity avtuatml uwam into operation.

Datml this twvntivl h (lay of January, 1915.

EBI'INEZER A. \V. JEFFERIES.

Villa-Mos:

PEXELHIE Conmmnixcu, Roy D. THLMAN. 

